Isaac wrote:I have to say, I think it's a sad comment on our society when a man saying loving things about his wife is regarded as a sissy, even by himself. What is this, the he-man woman-haters club?

Isaac, wrong, on two counts, none of us are he-men, (I suspect most of us are wannabes however) and no one hates women (that I'm aware of). Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Sorry if we gave you the wrong impression. In other words were closer to being masochists than misogynists.

I'd like to express my sympathies to Covert. I lost my mother in May and no matter how long they live (she was 92), we aren't ready to say goodbye. I have only one sister and I will be devastated if something happens to her, although I know none of us will live forever on this earth.

(Still, if you have a number of good bottles of wine, I'm a little surprised that you wouldn't share with male friends on some occasion without your wife present. My feeling is if they are into wine enough to appreciate the quality of the wine, then I would be willing to share with good friends. If they only like the sweet stuff--white zin, sweet Port and dessert wines-- I would not waste a premier cru or grand cru Burgundy, etc. sharing it with friends who would find it too tart or too heavy or whatever.

Isaac wrote:I have to say, I think it's a sad comment on our society when a man saying loving things about his wife is regarded as a sissy, even by himself. What is this, the he-man woman-haters club?

Isaac, wrong, on two counts, none of us are he-men, (I suspect most of us are wannabes however) and no one hates women (that I'm aware of). Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Sorry if we gave you the wrong impression. In other words were closer to being masochists than misogynists.

JC (NC) wrote: Still, if you have a number of good bottles of wine, I'm a little surprised that you wouldn't share with male friends on some occasion without your wife present.

I should maybe see a psychologist rather than post such a remark. Somehow drinking my Bordeaux has apparently moved into some psychological state that resembles spirituality – or it is my way of expressing the gene(s) that usually causes a person to be spiritual. I am not spiritual, and certainly not religious, but I get the same sort of feeling directed at my relationship with my wife. I call it a spiritual union only because that is what Jung called it, and I haven’t made up a special word for it. The symbol actually comes from alchemy – the wedding of two metals to form another altogether.

The complex snuck up on me like a thief in the night. I don’t think it is an accident that wine is used in religious ceremonies. Some religious people only drink wine in church. It’s kind of like that.

The bottle of Prüm 59; was that the one from the Moselschild cellar or the one which had been round the world (brought by you, I think)? The former (incredibly fresh) is also in my hit parade. Others are-

- Château Latour 1945 (consumed in the 80s and bought in the early 60s for £2.25 - then US$ 6.20!)
- La Tâche 1962 (also consumed in the 80s)
- Vouvray Le Haut Lieu 1947 from Huet
- Hermitage La Chapelle 1978 (bottles vary; another was quite disappointing)
- Château Ausone 1959 (poorly noted by RMP but this bottle was celestial)
- Corton 1929 from Bouchard P&F (cellared under the Beaune ramparts)
- An eiswein 1998 pulled from under the table by Hermann Dönnhoff at a tasting; I was so dazzled that I forgot to note the vineyard.

I always find these threads hard to respond to because different wines have different personalities.

If you asked which was the best cabernet, or chard, or narrowed it a bit it would be easier, but to have to compare such disparate sorts of wines as Bordeaux and Madeira...how can you compare the experiences and say one is 'better' than the other.

I think that several vie for best in my experience. The 85 Sassicaia has always been superb (but then the 1978 is also soooo good).

The 1967 Yquem is about as good as it gets for that sort of wine.

I guess I'd have to say a certain bottle of 1927 Taylors would be pretty hard to dislodge from my memory...but I intend to keep on piling the memories up!

Eric: Oh, the 59 Prums! I had a bottle of the 1959 Wehlener/Zeltinger Sonnuhr Feinste Auslese once (given as a gift by the buyer after I successfully negotiated a cellar sale). A truly remarkable wine, and a bit of history at the same time, as then you could legally combine the Wehlen and Zelting parcels of Sonnuhr (Sonnenuhr).

It won me a bet, thus avoiding the cost of a truly huge and expensive dinner. The bet was with a man who maintained that there could be no finer dessert-style wine than Chateau d'Yquem. I allowed him to make the call (even allowed that he could lie if he wanted), and allowed him to compare it against any d'Yquem he wished. He paid gladly.

The only time I've ever seen a grown man try to lick the inside of a wine glass with his tongue was when he had finished the last drop of the 59 Prum.

And the next morning, he called me very early to tell me that when he woke up, he was licking his lips and thinking about how magical that wine was.

The bottle of Prüm 59; was that the one from the Moselschild cellar or the one which had been round the world (brought by you, I think)? The former (incredibly fresh) is also in my hit parade.

I actually enjoyed the one from Moselschild better. I've opened a couple more from my stash since then but neither was as good as the one I opened then. I've a few more and probably should open another soon. I've also a couple of BAs from the Mosel that I need to try soon.

I have been lucky enough to have some stunning wine it should be hard to choose but I am a bubbly girl.

Number one all time for me 1985 Krug--consumed as the clock swung past midnight, Dec 31 1999 to Jan 1 2000
(considering we had already slurped up many bottles of other ridiculously expensive vintage champage that evening it is a miracle we remember anything)